1951 Fredericton Encaenia
Wright, William Josiah
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Orator: Cattley, Robert E.D.
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L to R: Jack Weldon Humphrey, Richard Law, Frank Ernest Gannett, William Josiah Wright
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Source: unprocessed
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 1951
WILLIAM JOSIAH WRIGHT
to be Doctor of Laws
Provincial Geologist, our benign and beloved friend, he has been so long among us at the University that it is difficult to think of him as a prospector who has travelled half across the globe in search of oil.
Four years spent in the mountains of India, another four in Africa and Madagascar have, as he confesses, yielded to his probing little of that commercial fuel. The oil he struck came from deeper wells and more precious -- that oil of human kindness which gushes from the hearts of all men, be they black or white, who recognize and instinctively open to true friendship and a gentle spirit. The Naga of Assam, the Kashmiri and the Malagash share with a later generation of his New Brunswick students memories of Bill Wright, as they do of that constant and loving fellow-explorer, his wife; and revere them both as their former counsellors and perennial friends.
The University herself is more deeply indebted to Dr. Wright than many present will know. Let it, then, be told that when the Geology building was in embryo it was a Dr. Wright turned more pugnacious who, having designed its whole interior lay-out, fought with authorities and architect for such considerable trifles as electricity, gas and water-lines (which seemed to have been quite forgotten!). He even did battle with a reluctant contractor over the
installation of one vital drinking-water fountain.
This debt a grateful University will to-day do its best to discharge when it creates him Doctor of Laws.
From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.
WILLIAM JOSIAH WRIGHT
to be Doctor of Laws
Provincial Geologist, our benign and beloved friend, he has been so long among us at the University that it is difficult to think of him as a prospector who has travelled half across the globe in search of oil.
Four years spent in the mountains of India, another four in Africa and Madagascar have, as he confesses, yielded to his probing little of that commercial fuel. The oil he struck came from deeper wells and more precious -- that oil of human kindness which gushes from the hearts of all men, be they black or white, who recognize and instinctively open to true friendship and a gentle spirit. The Naga of Assam, the Kashmiri and the Malagash share with a later generation of his New Brunswick students memories of Bill Wright, as they do of that constant and loving fellow-explorer, his wife; and revere them both as their former counsellors and perennial friends.
The University herself is more deeply indebted to Dr. Wright than many present will know. Let it, then, be told that when the Geology building was in embryo it was a Dr. Wright turned more pugnacious who, having designed its whole interior lay-out, fought with authorities and architect for such considerable trifles as electricity, gas and water-lines (which seemed to have been quite forgotten!). He even did battle with a reluctant contractor over the
installation of one vital drinking-water fountain.
This debt a grateful University will to-day do its best to discharge when it creates him Doctor of Laws.
From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.
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